


Hack Your Heart

by lessiehanamoray



Category: Persona 5, Persona: Trinity Soul
Genre: F/M, Persona Rare Pair Week, Personararepairweek2020, Rare Fandoms, Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:48:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27714314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lessiehanamoray/pseuds/lessiehanamoray
Summary: Futaba meets someone new will studying in Leblanc one day and the two hit it off.
Relationships: Kanzato Shin/Sakura Futaba
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6





	Hack Your Heart

Futaba Sakura liked doing homework in Leblanc. She could help out Sojiro if things got suddenly hectic, and have all the coffee she wanted. Plus, the smell of the curry always helped her relax a little.

This particular evening was one of those crowded yet calm nights. A time where everyone inside mostly chatted. Where most of them were regulars, with predictable orders. Sojiro had asked Futaba to help when everyone first came in, but now he could work in a steady rhythm. 

She liked hearing steam hiss and water boil. The constant smell of fresh coffee energized her.

The little bell above the door clinked and she glanced up, surprised someone new was coming into the crowded cafe.

For his part, the newcomer seemed somewhat dismayed by the crowd. He glanced around awkwardly, shifting his feet and clenching tight to a briefcase.

He glanced to his side, starting slightly when he noticed Futaba in the corner by the door.

She ducked under the table. Strange boys were still way too boss.

“Um, excuse me?” He spoke softly, nervously, but she still didn’t like it. “Uh? Um. May I sit with you?”

Futaba forced herself to peek at him. He had turned to face the booth, but still stood by the door. At least he hadn’t approached.

But...sit with her?

He gestured to his bag. “I was hoping to do some homework too.”

“O-oh.” Futaba slid back properly in her seat. “I, I guess.” She stared down at her keyboard.

He slid in the booth across from her. “Thanks.”

“Ye-yeah.” She needed to get a grip. Oh! Futaba stood. “I’m going to order another coffee.”

The boy nodded at her, fluffy hair bouncing slightly.

Cute. He looked like a puppy.

Futaba practically dive bombed the counter.

“Sojiiiro! I need coffee, ASAP.”

“What happened to you?”

Futaba turned her head slightly to indicate the boy sitting at her booth.

“Ho-oh. You didn’t tell me you had a date coming over.”

“Sojiro. This is serious.”

“Is he bothering you?”

“No. I told him he could sit, but now what do I do?”

“Heh.” Sojiro wandered over to examine his coffee beans. “Well, I’d start by offering him a nice cup of coffee.”

“I just came up for my refill.”

“He’s a new guest, Futaba. We should give him a taste of Leblanc.”

Sojiro grabbed a nice mellow blend off the shelf. Always a good bet when you didn’t know someone’s preferences. He knew Futaba really liked it with some cream.

“Now go back to your seat. I’ll bring coffee out for both of you.”

“Bu-but,” Futaba stammered. Sojiro seemed way too amused by all this. 

“He looks about your age.”

“He doesn’t have a high school bag,” she murmured.

“I’d guess a first-year college student.”

“Sojiro,” she whined.

“Hush, Futaba. Just let me know if he makes you too uncomfortable.”

Some help he was. Still, she kind of got it. She still had trouble with strangers. Best to try and get over that under her dad’s watchful gaze. If this boy tried anything suspicious Sojiro would kick him out in an instant.

She stomped back over to the table.

The boy had pulled out a rather thick looking textbook.

“Whatchareading?” There. She was talking to him.

“Huh? Oh. Just homework. It’s-” he held up the book.

“An introduction to coding?” She hadn’t expected that.

“Yeah. I’ve never tried it before, so I’m pretty far behind my classmates.”

“You need help?”

“Eh?”

“I’m a bit of a coding whiz. I even started my school’s robotics club.” With Sumire’s help. She’d channeled her inner twin to shove Futaba through the loops required to start a club.

“Robotics?” The boy seemed dazed. Then, suddenly, “Really?”, excited.

“Yeah. I’m a master with the software, so I wanted something more challenging on the hardware end.”

He grinned. “What got you into it?”

“I-I needed a club where I fit in. Sumi helped a lot.”

“Sumi?”

“My friend. She just graduated earlier this year.”

“Oh.” The boy set the book down. “I’m Shin Kanzato.”

Oh right. They hadn’t introduced themselves. “Futaba Sakura. My dad runs this place, so I study here a lot.”

Shin glanced around the cafe. His eyes locked onto the Sayuri painting almost immediately.

“That’s an interesting rendition of Sayuri.”

“You know the Sayuri?”

“Yeah. My parents had a small print in their studio. I don’t remember the baby though.”

“That’s what the mist covered,” explained Futaba.

“It’s less mysterious this way, but I like it. It feels...warm.”

Futaba stared at him.

“Oh? Did I say something wrong?”

“No. It’s just..you get it. Heh. Yusuke’s going to love that.”

“Yusuke.”

“Inari.”

“Um…”

“Oh, he’s a friend,” explained Futaba. “His mother painted that.”

“His mother?” Shin stared at the Sayuri once more. “Oh yeah. Madarame had the plagiarism scandal a couple years ago, didn’t he?”

“You sound like you forgot.”

“I didn’t really notice,” he admitted. “A lot happened that year.”

No kidding.

Okay, she had this conversation going. Now to keep it going. Futaba just knew that if she stopped she’d be too chicken to talk again. Had to drag this Kanzato kid fully out of stranger territory.

“Were you living in Tokyo?”

Makoto had explained that, while cliche, getting people to talk about their hometowns was a solid way to learn more about them.

“No.” Shin looked down at his book. “Ayanagi City.”

“Where’s that?”

“Toyama Prefecture.” He sighed. “I think I’ll go up to grab a drink now.”

Okay. Maybe he didn’t like talking about his old home.

“No worries. I brought one for you too.”

Shin jumped slightly when he heard Sojiro.

“Hey, dad.”

Sojiro set down two cups of coffee and some creamer for them.

“I hadn’t ordered.” Shin looked to Futaba. “Did you-?”

“Don’t worry about it. This one’s on the house for keeping Futaba company.”

“Oh. Thank you very much.”

Sojiro smiled, seemingly pleased by the politeness, before walking back to the company.

“So that’s your dad?”

“Yeah. He’s pretty cool, I guess.”

Futaba poured in quite a bit of cream. Shin took a sip of his coffee before adding a little in himself.

Crap though. It had stopped the flow. Shin returned to his programming book, and Futaba was forced to struggle through her history notes. She glanced up at him occasionally though, hoping for another opening to speak.

He took neat notes. Nothing special, but he had large handwriting and she could read it with just a glance.

Looked pretty basic to her, but kind of hefty for a total noob.

“How ya doing?” she finally asked.

He set the book down. “Poorly. I’ve never been really good with this stuff.”

“Then why are you studying it?”

“I,” Shin sighed. “A friend of mine was...very into robots.”

“Liar.”

“What?”

“You’re lying. And if I can tell, you’re pretty bad at it.”

Shin looked away. “I get that a lot.”

“You lie a lot?”

“No.” He raised his hands defensively. “I mean, sometimes, but…” his whole posture drooped, “I’ve never been good at it. Not like Aniki.”

“Your bro?”

“Yeah. My big brother. He kept everything close, except us.”

“Us?”

“Oh. I have a younger brother too. He’s in high school.”

“That’s cool. Um...where do you go?” Time to figure out his age. The fact he had a younger brother in high school worried her a bit.

“Waseda. I’m not sure if I’ll last though.”

So he was a college student. 

“What about you?”

“Shujin,” Futaba replied nervously.

Shin glanced at her bag. “High school?”

“Yeah. Last year.”

“Oh, have you had to do those future surveys yet?”

“All the time. I feel like what we’re doing next is all we ever talk about.”

“And what are you thinking of doing?”

“I’m going to follow my mom’s footsteps.”

“And what does she do?”

Oh. “Did.”

“Sorry.”

“No prob. I’ve got Sojiro, and all my friends, so it’s okay.”

“Alright. What did she do?”

Futaba leaned over the table, gesturing for Shin to lean in as well. He did so, though not without a tiny bit of blush.

“Cognitive psience.”

“Cognitive science?”

“No,” Futaba whispered harshly. “Cognitive PSIence. The Psi bit is important.”

“Okay. What’s cognitive sci-psience.”

This kid caught on fast. Futaba leaned back, tapping her head with a finger. 

“The brain, and all the weird stuff it can do. Collective unconscious, persona, all that.”

“Persona?”

“Yeah. It’s this idea we all have a true self hidden away behind all our masks. Or maybe it is our mask?” Futaba moved her finger to her chin. “It’s hard to explain, but basically all the ways you can help people by directly contacting their inner self.”

Shin’s eyes had grown wide, saucer wide. He grabbed his book, quickly shoving it back into his bag.

“Wait. What did I say?”

“Nothing. I just realized I need to get back.” He stood quickly, not even looking at her. 

Futaba stood as well, blocking his way.

“Come on. I’m really bad at this, so I need you to tell me why you’re upset. I’ll never figure it out on my own.”

Shin stopped, eyes firmly on the floor.

“Sorry, I just...I can’t deal with this right now. Not so soon.”

“Can’t deal with what? Tell me what it is, and I promise I won’t talk about it again.”

“You really are bad at this, huh?”

“Yeah. I was a shut-in ‘til just a couple years ago. That’s why I’m a year behind.”

“You too, huh?”

“What do you mean?”

“I skipped most of a year to get my brother’s things arranged. I just...hadn’t even thought about what I wanted. I needed to get my head on straight.”

“My head was all screwed up after mom died. And it just got worse and worse.”

Shin finally looked up at her. “Yeah. I was so bad everyone thought I had Apathy Syndrome.”

“That’s...pretty bad.”

“You know about it?”

She shrugged. “Yeah. I remember seeing something about it in mom’s notes. It was one of the things she wanted to cure.” Futaba slid away from the door, sliding next to the Sayuri. “Sorry. I don’t know what I said, but I don’t want to make you talk about something that makes you upset.”

Shin sighed.

And sat back down.

Futaba couldn’t help but grin, even though she was super worried. She slid into the booth across from him immediately.

“Mind if I keep studying here?”

“Not at all. Just let me know if you have questions. I’m a pro at that stuff.”

Shin nodded. “Alright. You can do the same. Though, I wasn’t exactly the best student.”

“I will!”

  
  
  


####  **Three Weeks Later**

Futaba Sakura touched a hand to her face, unsure if the person in the mirror was really her. It all felt so fake and yet…

Ann had helped her out with makeup tutorials. And then she’d gone with Haru to pick out an outfit. Sumire had loaned her a ribbon to go with the ensemble.

Since when did she, a bona fide nerd, wear makeup?

Still, as weird and fake as it felt, she kind of liked it. Ann had shown her how to accentuate her wide eyes and how to brighten her lips so they didn’t look so thin. It was like she was staring at an idealized form of herself. An avatar she might create in a game. The idea she could do that to her real body was actually pretty exciting.

She twirled slowly. Haru had found a black and green sweater dress for her. It looked nice with a slender belt around her waist and was quite cozy. Makoto had loaned her a nice looking, but still sizable, bag so she could carry everything she needed for the day.

She’d also provided Futaba with at least ten different ways to contact her if something went wrong.

Futaba slowly lifted her hair to create a high ponytail with the ribbon Sumire had given her. They’d done this together many times, but she’d never put her hair up on her own.

Still, it came out okay. She made sure to leave her bangs down too. Ann, Haru, and Sumire all agreed Futaba looked better with her bangs down.

She had to admit, it was pretty cute.

Someone knocked on the door.

She locked in place.

“Ah, Futaba’s just in her room getting ready. You know, I’ve never seen her so excited to go out before.”

She could hear Shin respond on the threshold. 

“Thank you for letting her come out with me. I wrote my phone number down for you, in case something happens.”

Futaba smirked. Shin was so conscientious. Not at all like Joker!

“Thank you. I’m sure I won’t need it, but I like the thought. Futaba!”

Futaba checked herself in the mirror again. Yeah. She looked her best. Still her, but a prettier her.

“Coming!”

She grabbed her bag and bolted out her room, slamming the door shut behind her before Shin could possibly see inside. Even though she helped him with programming, she was a little worried about how he might respond to the rig in her room.

“You ready to go?”

“Yeah.”

Shin wore a simple black turtleneck and slacks. He’d upgraded his jacket for the dark red one he wore to something a little nicer, but he looked pretty similar to how he always did.

No fair.

“Have fun you two. And Futaba?”

She turned back to her dad. “Yeah?”

“Call if you’re going to be out past ten, okay?”

She’d heard horror stories from Sumire about dad’s being overprotective in dating. They didn’t sound anything like what Sojiro had just told her.

“Okay!”

“Have fun.”

Sojiro waved them off. Futaba happily walked beside Shin as they headed for the train station.

“I was surprised you wanted to go to the planetarium with me,” he admitted.

“Only because you agreed to let me poke around Otome Road some while we were there.”

Whoops.

“Heh! I don’t mind. Maybe you can help me find a gift for Megumi while we’re there.”

“Megumi?” Oh yeah, a friend of his, right?

“My friend from high school. I have a hard time knowing what girls will like.”

“Me too.”

Shin smiled at her.

He was too cute.

And too tall, but then again, everyone was too tall. Especially guys.

“Do you think we’ll have time for the aquarium too?” asked Futaba.

“I hope so,” admitted Shin. “I promised Jun an otter drawing.”

He also talked about his younger brother a lot. Like a lot alot. It got annoying sometimes, but at the same time, she wanted a relationship just like that. Shin and Jun called each other every week. Texted every day. And Shin always had an eye out for little gifts to send his brother back home.

“Otters are cute.”

“Yeah.” Shin looked at her. “Not quite as cute as you though.”

Futaba tripped over her own feet. “Whoa!”

Shin caught her before she hit the ground. “You okay?”

“Ye-yeah.” Futaba could feel her face flushing.

Shin grabbed her hand. “You sure?”

“Yeah.” Futaba squeezed his hand in return.

They continued on their way.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay. Now this has got to count as a rare pair. I was working on another piece and had the two of them interact and just really liked the chemistry, so I decided to write a piece where I shipped them. I headcannon Trinity Soul and P5 has taking place at pretty much the same time, so he is actually only a year older than her (as opposed to a year younger).


End file.
